Interesting (if not totally convincing) bock hybrid layers medium-roast Blue Moon coffee beans above coarsely dried-fruited peat malts, leaving sweet vanilla and dark chocolate tones in the lurch. Using green Bali coffee beans instead of dry hops, its subtle berry-cherry notions fade too quick while black licorice, cola nut and hazelnut illusions merely waver in an unbalanced mix that’ll satisfy coffee lovers only at the beginning.
On tap at Ambulance, rangy bock brings mild brown-sugared dried fruiting to caramelized Vienna malting, brown chocolate sweetness and dewy wood-soaked foliage. Spiced fig, date and plum tones crystallize at the finish.
On tap at Liberty Craft House, suspect doppel-hefe combo never truly connects both German styles. But its hefe-like banana breading and clove-cinnamon-nutmeg spicing and bock-like toffee-cocoa-pecan conflux offer pleasantries for sweet-toothed brewhounds.
On tap at Bronx Alehouse, stylishly complex off-dry amber-browned dunkel bock retains brown-sugared molasses breading and nutty cocoa malting. Latent citrus souring lags, but sharp hop bite lingers.
Nebulous schwarzbier never catches fire. Indecisive dark-roast mocha malting wavers above chalky cocoa, soy, cola, walnut and port irrelevance. Milk-sugared brown chocolate center needs more prominence. A true goat!
Delightful doppelbock drapes creamy chocolate malting above moderated orange blossom honey adjunct and bittersweet dried fruiting. Chewy brown-sugared prune, raisin and fig illusions pick up mild banana breading as well as tertiary rum-spiced sherry, burgundy and almond wining by the delicate chocolate fruitcake finish.
On tap at West O, winning dry-hopped doppelbock lager collaboration between Maryland’s Heavy Seas and Pennsylvania’s Troegs brings floral-spiced mango, cherry and red grape tang to bittersweet grapefruit-pineapple-orange serenade. Moderate resinous hop bittering contrasts caramelized Vienna malting.
On tap at Ambulance, heady amber-hazed springtime medium body (with well hidden 8% ABV) brings lemony orange peel briskness to floral dry-hopped spicing, honeyed caramel sweetness and cracker-like pilsner malting. Subtle Chardonnay, lemon meringue, banana and apple undertones endear zesty citrus frontage.
On tap at Doherty’s, delicately easygoing bock brings dried fig tartness, light molasses sinew, subtle raisin notions and nutty toffee tinge to clean-watered crisping. Subtle leafy hop astringency affects dried-fruited nature.
Highly recommended limited bottle edition (2015) deserves year-round status. Chewy dark-fruited mocha creaminess intensifies above toasted caramel malting and brown-sugared pecan nuttiness. Gleaming butterscotch-spiced sweetness and cherry brandy wining further bolster candied German-style full body.
Despite destruction-bound Devastator tag, soft clean-watered crisping provides calm base for sweet malt-forward doppelbock. Brown-sugared maple molasses syruping spreads atop dried fig, sweet raisin, sugared vanilla and toffee fudging. Casual butternut, pecan, hazelnut and cola nut illusions dried out by earthen musk. Tertiary chocolate truffle, cream liqueur and pureed cherry notions need deeper resonance.
Venerable Cincy dopplebock shows off Queen City’s affluent German heritage. Expressive Munich-crystal malting allows banana-chipped toffee, molasses and vanilla creaming to prosper just as emphatically as its cinnamon-spiced raisin, prune, plum and dark cherry insistence. Rum-sugared burgundy sweetness and subsidiary nut-roasted coffee bittering fill out the mocha-spiced finish of enthralling medium-full body.